
Class 
Book. 



Copyright^ . 



COPYRIGHT DEPOSIT. 



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By-Products of Idle Hours 

By 

Joseph B. Strauss 















Copyright 1921 

by 

Joseph B. Strauss 



SEP 17 1921 

©C1A625428 



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INDEX 



Page 
A Farewell Tribute .... ..... 7 

Before the Dawn 9 

Reverie ' 1 

A Night in Michigan..... . 16 

Album Autograph 17 

A Christmas Greeting 18 

The Forest Songster ..... 19 

Chicago . 20 

As the Troops Pass 21 

Our Answer.. 23 

Germany,Thy Hour Has Struck! 24 

The Fighting Yank 25 

To My Mother 26 

They Ask Your Giving 27 

The Engineer 28 

Lo! I Am Truth ..... 29 

Birthday Greeting to Richard 31 

Toronto. : 32 

A Christmas Message 33 

In Memoriam 34 

California... 35 

The Issues 36 

Republic and Republican 37 

Welcome to the Port Convention 38 

Harding, Our New Chief . 39 

Grand Canyon 40 

The Boy Scouts' Creed 41 

I Whisper to the World, Good-Bye .. 42 



A FAREWELL TRIBUTE 

Sensations strange do fill the heart 
And doubts and fears unbidden start ; 

Our heaving bosoms thrill; 
What can this dull oppression be? 
Alas, it is too clear to me, 

The Fates — they augur ill. 

For they decree, the best of friends 
Life now relentless from us sends, 

To far off Western shore ; 
A friend, than whom none truer is, 
Such thoughtful, kindly care as his, 

We ne'er can hope for more. 

Well may we grieve to 'ose our guide. 
Our counselor and help beside. 

For these and more thou be ; 
How hard to part, to cut the bands, 
So o< rongly drawn by thine own hands, 

Between thy charge and thee. 

Tis true, thou wert sometimes severe, 
Thy thunder oft inspired with fear 

The hapless youth at bay ; 
When through his muddled brain no light 
Could penetrate Eygptian night, 

And he was told to "stay." 

Or when thou laidst on us the yoke, 
That took away the right to stoke 

The feeble fires of lore ; 
Or flattered us upon our wit 
Whose flame, thou saidst, our faces lit 

And testimony bore ? 

But since such incidents hold rule 
In each well-regulated school, 

All this we will forget; 
Unlocking now another door 
And take from an abundant store 

The brighter gems there set. 



Thus we shall find, thou wert the key, 
To ope the gates that left us free 

To walk in Learning's bower; 
Where mathematic symmetry, 
And astronomic mystery, 

Detained us by the hour. 

We find thee too as one who taught 
Why Learning must be fairly bought, 

How knowledge mankind sways; 
As one who knew that boys are boys, 
And saw midst all our tricks and toys 

The man of future days. 

Therefore, I say with my adieu, 
May kindly Heaven bliss thee anew 

And grant deserved Success; 
May Fortune smile on thee indeed, 
And may to thee this be decreed : 

Long life and happiness. 

And I would say this too, at last, 
That when thy lot with those is cast 

There at the Golden Gate, 
That thou look back across the land, 
And think of those last from thy hand 

The Class of Eighty-Eight. 



Cincinnati 



Delivered at Dinner 

to 

Professor Jacob H. Bromwel 

on behalf of the 

'88 Astronomy Class 

Hughes High School 



BEFORE THE DAWN 

Before the dawn I sudden wake, 

And in the gloom lie still; 
Lest I perchance should wanton break 

A calm that saints might will. 

Lest I should turn in hasty flight 

The thoughts that come to mind, 

Like bounding waves of welcome light 
To eyes that have been blind 

The half-formed plans of busy day 

The problems left undone ; 
The doubts that undisturbed held sway, 

The questions oft begun ; 

Appear again before me now, 

All pliant to my will, 
As to the keenly sharpened plow, 

The hardened earth we till. 

Then follow daring dreams of pride, 
Tumultuous hopes of youth ; 

The future opens fast and wide, 
The past is past in truth. 

I see the goals well won and held; 

Success become my own ; 
Fame by my name and deeds excelled, 

My toil to genius grown, 

The minds of men I mold and move, 

I do what mankind would ; 
Out from the deep'ning time-worn groove, 

I lift the world to good. 

The light of morning softly breaks, 

Yet I, entranced, lie still; 
For evry hope me now forsakes, 

And heart and pride as well. 

Undone by timid, first-born ray, 
My humble, hopeless sphere ; 

Far fade my cherished goals away 
And leave me longing here. 



Cincinnati 
January, 1890 



REVERIE 



In village belfry, slow, successive, swings 
The iron tongue to twelve ; while sweeter rings 
Accomp'niment from nearer neighbored tower, 
Of chimes heraldic of the midnight hour. 
Save these, a sacred silence binds the earth ; 
The sounds of daily sorrow, those of mirth, 
Are hushed ; the tired folk are fast in bed, 
And grateful slumber soothes each weary head ; 
I only wake, in quiet deep 
I dream, but not the dreams of sleep. 



I feel how softly there about me breathes 
The lightest zephyr, that scarce stirs the trees 
Whose shadows weirdly fall upon the graves 
They silent guard ; from far come gentle waves 
Of sweet perfume and faint repeated sound 
Of ans'ring bay from restless hound to hound; 
While crickets' chirp from moss-concealed abodes 
Assails the stillness of the lonely country roads, 
Which outward now, then inward wind, 
And go from me to all Mankind. 



The moon, companion to nocturnal thought, 
Pours out her light of mirrored sunbeams wrought, 
Maternal spreads her robes of mellow white 
Far over lowland plain and rugged height; 
Dims, by her nearer splendor, yonder host, 
Whose multicolored orbs do seem almost 
Like flick' ring beacon lamps, that silent burn 
On distant shores, round which they bend and turn 
In straggling lines of warning light, 
That flash their signals through the night. 



1G 



Among those myriad millions hung in space, 

Finds, too, this tiny world of ours a place ; 

From it, tonight, how small a part I see 

Of its known stellar fellowship; to me 

They bring the consciousness of those unknown, 

Whose light our skies can never hope to own; 

Whose course is laid where eye nor mind can reach 

Where trains of regal courtiers follow each, 

In systems vast, with centers yet 

Far deeper in creation set. 



Might not, on satellite of yon bright star, 
Whose light of past years shows but now afar; 
Or on that ruddy globe, by first cause spun 
Nearest to us of all swayed by the sun, 
Strange forms of life thick people hill and dale; 
Bound round, as we, by that mysterious veil 
That hides from flesh the truth; and, as we still 
The rugged planetary surface till, 
Or seek in rock, long buried there, 
The same hope that a Darwin dare 7 



Or do alone in all this rule we live; 

With those grand spectacles the star-spheres give, 

Beheld by none beside ; we only formed 

Exceptional, and with a mind adorned 

Them to enjoy; inanimate the rest, 

But for one force, whose presence all attest 

In universal motion; trembling we, 

Left in a loneliness like this, where be 

But the Creator and the man, 

And nothing more since time began 7 



Will yon far worlds to me the answer tell? 
Else I shall force their secret, break the spell 
Of silence, kept so stubborn and so stout, 
Despite the searchers all their realms about, 
Yet how can I approach infinity? 
Can finite realize divinity? 
In vain attempt and never-ending search 
He battles on in school, in state, in church 
To learn at length, that mortal's range 
Its narrow limits ne'er can change. 



Aye, different from attempted flight, mind's course; 

Earth brooks not, from herself, the soul's divorce 

Except in death; from high presumptive quest 

Of purpose in the cosmos manifest, 

She brings us down, in her broad lap to find 

Enough of mystery to puzzle mind ; 

In polar climes, or else in tropic zone; 

In heaving crust, whose changes part are shown 

In broken record, still unread, 

Though countless centuries are fled. 



Around us ceaseless, changeless, endless roll 

The mighty agencies beyond control 

Of things material; vain, still, the hope 

To understand them or intent and scope 

Of humbler nature; lo, not yet have ceased, 

Of fauna and of flora, e'en the least 

Us to astound; our limits to out-climb, 

Or fearful death to grow less feared with time, 

Or life, with fewer doubts, to gloom 

Our fretted passage to the tomb. 



What awesome rule o'er mankind's path extends, 

How to our boasts it quick confusion sends ! 

Denies the final of the ages won ; 

Time omens of man's evolution done, 

Humanity extinct or sunk below 

The organisms after years may grow; 

To whose new light our triumphs will be brought, 

But not, as fondly cherished by our thought, 

Successful claimants of the crown 

Destined for future's last renown. 



Can, till this restless planet grow inert, 
And giant strength its shrinking mass exert 
No more, the climax of its living forms 
Obtain? Do gradual change and tempest storms 
And throbbing sea, on plastic land now trace 
Transition to succeeding age and race? 
Can sage ascribe the beating world's loud groan, 
The fiercer strife, each for his envied own, 
To struggle of a waning type ; 
To era almost over-ripe ? 

12 



Poor tortured man, whom hard, relentless fate 

Impels to ceaseless war; uneasy wait 

You for each dawn to bring its train of good, 

From which must come your share, your livelihood 

Unhappy roused, each morn to meet the day, 

To face the foe in silent, grim array. 

To battle wealth and poverty; at length 

To yield to master minds, whose larger strength 

Absorbs the vital share of wealth, 

Vain sought by feebler brain and health. 



See then, a reason for each varied phase, 

That yonder vale presents to wand' ring gaze; 

The cottage low, on which the light scarce falls; 

The nearby terraced mansion walls; 

The over-rich amidst most hopeless want; 

The shrines which beauty, grace and fashion haunt, 

The dingy room where but the hapless reign, 

Where scenes of joy make way for those of shame; 

The intermingled good and bad, 

The bright and dark, the gay and sad. 



Note, too, where plenty lavish store displays, 
Where wealth the progress of the lowly stays, 
And there, where indigence half-hidden lurks, 
Our social state its own destruction works; 
Compelling all, decrepit, adult, youth, 
To live opposed to ways of happy truth; 
To win their bread in life of fev'rish gain; 
To bear full weight of sorrow and of pain; 
To sell, for meager grant of gold, 
The peace a lifetime can enfold. 



The novice, who with hesitating heart, 

Begins, unknown, his triumph in the mart; 

Successful leader, who in dotage feels 

His curbed humanity revive and steals 

A few late years for good ; the humbler mean, 

To whom the end of drudgery's unseen ; 

The self-taught lad, whose steps find vaunted goal 

The student, whom scholastic arts control ; 

Unequal toil, but equal bear 

For every joy, a double care. 

13 



Through storm-rocked souls unchecked misfortunes plow, 

And leave their furrows on the wrinkled brow; 

From thousand avenues, alluring sin 

On opulence and penury creeps in; 

Cloaked in a thousand mantles, subtle crime 

Accomp'nies men in eager, rapid climb, 

To elevations of their highest fame, 

Or down the darker roads the fallen claim 

Now leads by folly, now by hate, 

Bv love, or wants inordinate. 



And wilful leads for want of better guide, 
While evolution follows by its side 
In devious path, that back and forward trails, 
And wilder grows, while all its comfort fails; 
Where mankind creeps, forgetting to look back, 
And plan its progress from the traveled track ; 
But, stubborn, holds the tortous way ordained ; 
Thinks wrong and poverty foreer contained 
In all of life; makes pain a creed, 
And accepts sorrow as a need. 



Drawn half the social misery and grime 

From institutions hoary most with time ; 

By them men fast succeeding tyrants rear 

To warp the right and force the burning tear; 

By them create the idler and the slave, 

And wanton waste of what the needy crave; 

Through them pour out their gold in well-filled hands, 

And drive the thousands to the pauper bands; 

With them the sight of eager eyes 

Destroy, and progress make with sighs. 



But as the patient tossing in disease 
Feels sharpest pain precede a spell of ease; 
And as the soldier sees, through battle smoke, 
The cause most dark before the master stroke; 
So sweating mortal, toiling under lash, 
E'en now hears mutt'rings of impending crash; 
Whose advent brings the juster social state, 
Where higher laws will mortals dominate, 
And aims industrial of today 
Will sink to lesser, feebler play. 

14 



Aye, high ideals do still far higher bring; 

And late crops oft in greatest plenty spring ; 

The blackest coal holds richest store of light; 

And half-grown earth (whose chief, whose saddest blight 

Is from its own weak offspring, that neglect 

Its laws immutable, and blind elect 

To legislate against its truth), is mine 

Of wondrous treasures full, whose glories shine 

But dimly now, yet do presage 

For coming man a happier age. 

In peace then sleep, poor troubled vale, and dream 
Not of my visions dark; away they stream, 
While blessings shine on ev'ry hand; proclaim 
All safe the charm of home, and love's bright flame 
That burns for all, and sympathy and song, 
And mind's grand play, so great and strong; 
Before advancing steps of glorious dawn, 
The mist, distorter of my sight, is gone, 
And life shows bright'ning through the cloud 
A halo now, before, a shroud. 



Cincinnati, 1892 



Class Poem— Class of 1892 
University of Cincinnati 



A NIGHT IN MICHIGAN 

The twilight fades away in deepening gloom, 
The chorus of the night sweet song resume ; 

No sense of loneliness annoys ; 
The lighted lamp through lifted window shines; 
The toiler his now irksome task resigns, 

And hurries home to evening joys. 

The moonlight creeps across the sleeping bay, 
And through the fruiting forests finds its way, 

And o'er the hills on distant shore; 
Transformed, the world beneath the soft, white gleam, 
The wooded vales like silvered dreamland seem, 

The hills, like castle-keeps of yore. 

On ship becalmed, 'neath idle sails all set, 
That shifting shadows on the deck beget, 

The sailors careless, resting, lie; 
And sweetly blended, dreamily in song, 
Their voices float the waters still along, 

And on the shore in echoes die. 



Back from the beach shine hundred twinkling lights; 
Out from beneath the trees that crown the heights, 

Where from half hidden festal hall, 
Come swinging, stirring, captivating strains 
Of merry waltz, that down the darkened lanes 

In soft and mellow accents fall. 



E'en as I speak, belated ship before abortive breeze 
Sails on ; the dancers seek their needed ease, 

And all is still ; creation feels 
The sacred majesty of night; regretfully depart 
The life and passion of the world, and o'er the heart 

The calm and peace of Nature steals. 



Omena, Mich. 
Oct. 26, 1892 



16 



ALBUM AUTOGRAPH 

The album rhymster is a scourge ; 
Yet when fair ladies press and urge 

Prosaic men to vent regards in verse, 
Then they to rhyme heroic bend 
To testify they be your friend; 

And I, like they, have done the same, or worse. 



Philadelphia 
1893 



iZ 



A CHRISTMAS GREETING 

Accompanying the Joint Gift of a Lamp 
to our Landlady 



In this we put our Christmas Greeting; 
And trust in time, and by entreating, 

That it may win in your regard; 
We know full well its value's light, 
But counted here that bright was right ; 

So thought it worthy of its ward. 

On this, and coming Christmas days, 
We trust that 'neath its genial rays, 

All happy you may meet ; 
With us in memory you will be, 
Beneath the lamp as Christmas tree, 

With blessings at your feet. 

Trenton, N. J. 
1893 



18 



THE FOREST SONGSTER 

Like sirens' song of ancient days 
That lured the passing from their ways 
By music more than half divine; 
So too those glorious notes of thine, 
O forest songster, swell and roll 
And sweep entranced, enraptured soul 
Into thy fairy woodland home, 
God's great green temple, all thine own. 



Chicago 

December 

1905 



19 



CHICAGO 

Chicago the peerless, the wonder of earth, 
Arrayed in the splendor that crowned her rebirth ; 
The Queen of the Inland, with realm spreading wide, 
From Lakes to the Gulfland, to far mountain side; 
Imperial she reigns o'er her rich dowered lands 
That ceaseless their tribute pour into her hands; 
Unbounded the treasure that floats to her shores, 
That streams through the highways stretched out 

from her doors ; 
A kingdom of plenty, great, glorious and fair, 
Her crest the rare badge only world-leaders wear ; 
Chicago the regal, the magical grown, 
Chicago triumphant, Americas own. 

Dedicated to the 

City of Chicago Chicago 

1912 



20 



AS THE TROOPS PASS 

When I hear the tense surging to battle, 
And the swift preparation for war, 

And the bright-flashing musketry rattle 
In the uniformed ranks reaching far; 

Then my heart, leaping wild in its beating, 
Gives its answer to drum tap without; 

While the blood in my veins swift is heating 
In the fire of passion about. 

Now I turn from this scene to another, 
Framed in memory time overgrown, 

The death watch of the Volunteer's Mother, 
In the war-border hamlet back home. 

All alone through the killing and fighting, 
And with no one to comfort or save, 

She lived on through the ruin and blighting, 
But to pray for the son that she gave. 

And each day when the skies were still darkened, 
She returned to her lodge in the street, 

And there silently waited and harkened 

For the tramp of the homecomer's feet. 

And when all the battles had ended, 

And crushed peace reasserted her sway, 

When the blood and the treasure expended 
Had ordained that the Union should stay ; 

When the sorrow and suffering were waning, 
And the world once again smiled in joy, 

Still she stood at her post uncomplaining, 
And in silence awaited her boy. 

And so year after year she stood waiting, 
As the city's full torrents swept on ; 

Each long year after year consecrating 
Her lone life to the life that was gone. 

And at last when grim fate had relented, 

And pronounced her long vigil complete, 

There they found her still waiting, contented, 
In the calmness of death on the street. 

21 



And so when all the Nation is throbbing 
At grave menace, or insult or raid, 

I think back to her soul and its robbing 

To help pay the dread debt that was paid. 

And I think of the ties that were shattered, 
Of the waifs, of the helpless, the old ; 

Of the homes that were broken and scattered, 
Like was this in the tale I have told. 

But I turn to the flag silent waving, 

And remember the price that they gave 

To maintain it unsullied and saving, 

The great glorified badge of the brave. 

Then forget I the horror attending 

Whene'er peace flees the land it has blessed, 
And see man with his wars ever-ending 

Greater evils naught else had suppressed. 

And I join in the call of the Nation, 

That the Nation assert its vast might, 

In defense, for the good of creation, 

Of the standards that ever serve Right. 

So I thrill as the ranks pass me swinging 
With our honor, our all in their care, 

And I hear the sharp bugle notes ringing 
With a reverent heart and a prayer. 



Chicago 
1916 



Founded on a True Story 
of the Civil War 



22 



OUR ANSWER 

The Nations call; their millions call; 

From World aflame a terror call ; 

Out o'er the seething, blood-drenched coasts, 

Out o'er the silent war-slain hosts, 

Out o'er the grandeur ground to dust ■ 

And ghastly wake of power lust ; 

Out o'er the oceans' lanes of death, 

Marked by the reeking poison breath 

Of maddened king, goes forth a call, 

Straight to the hearts of freemen all. 

Our answer; lo, with magic wand 
Columbia's fighting Liberty Bond; 
Our answer; all our heart and hand 
And every resource of the land ; 
Our answer ; ominous thunder tramp 
Of mighty hosts in field and camp, 
That sweeping swift across the globe 
Shall strip from fiend his royal robe, 
Drag down his blood-flags wide unfurled 
And for all ages free the world. 



Chicago 
June 1, 191! 



23 



GERMANY, THY HOUR HAS STRUCK! 

Germany, thy hour has struck ! 
North and South and East and West ! 
Death is clawing at thy breast ; 
In the Balkans, Bulgar breaks; 
In the Eastland Russia wakes; 
On the dripping fields of France 
Shattered lies thy battle lance; 
On the plains of Nazareth 
Heaped lie thy minions, cold in death ; 
Backward go thy murder bands, 
Forward to thy cowering lands 
Ceaseless surge the hosts of Right; 
Doomed thy terror reign of Might ; 
Doomed thy emperor and thy courts; 
Doomed thy temples and thy forts; 
North and South and East and West 
Death is clawing at thy breast ; 
Germany, thy hour has struck ! 



Chicago 

September 

1918 



24 



THE FIGHTING YANK 

Who stayed the Prussian Eagle's flight? 
Who broke the German armies' might? 
Who met the death horde as "it came, 
In poison cloud, with sheet of flame? 
Who changed to flight its swift advance? 
Who hurled it back from bleeding France? 
And who stands guard upon Rhine bank 
While all Earth rests 1 — The Fighting Yank 

Who cut the ring of German steel, 

And battered through at St. Mihiel? 

Who stormed the forest of Argonne, 

And decimated battled on^ 

Who sent reply that halt command 

His men would never understand, 

Then plunging on with gaping rank 

Brought fiend to bay?— The Fighting Yank 

They're heroes all, who faced that hell, 
Who by the millions fought and fell; 
The fearless, splendid, Great Poilu, 
The Briton, Anzac, Cannuck, too, 
Italian, Serb, and Belgium's son, 
All glorious in the Great Deed done ; 
But none like him whose saber clank 
Set free the world— The Fighting Yank! 



Chicago 
January 6 

Dedicated to "ReiHy's Bucks" 1919 



25 



TO MY MOTHER 

Here we have brought you, Mother, 
Where follow one by one; 

Here where the low mounds cover 
The hosts whose travail's done. 

Here where the zephyrs sighing 
Steal gently o'er your bed; 

Here where the songsters flying 
Chant softly o'er your head. 

Here where your quiet sleeping 

Is sleep that knows no dreams; 

Here in the Court of Weeping, 

Where Earth her own redeems. 

Here where your mate has bided 
From weary year to year ; 

Here where the roads divided 
Part us, we leave you, dear. 

But oh ! the pain of leaving 
All that we loved to share, 

Our common joys and grieving 
Here we renounce fore'er. 



Chicago 

January 27 

1919 



Dedicated to the Memory of 

My Beloved Mother 
Who Died January 10, 1919 



26 



THEY ASK YOUR GIVING 

They ask your giving, those that bled, 
Our Martyred Living and our Dead ! 
They ask for those who peaceful sleep 
On slopes they stormed to win and keep ; 
They ask in name of the Marine 
And Chateau Thierry's gory scene; 
They ask for those that gave their all 
That conquering enemy might fall ; 
They ask for those who guarding stand 
In grim array on foeman's land; 
They ask for blind and maimed and rent 
The naked, starving and the spent; 
They ask in name of God and Right, 
In name of World redeemed from blight; 
In name of World rebuilt, restored, 
Its peoples, Nations in accord; 
What greater -duty than we give 
The loan they ask that Peace shall live. 



_ ,. Chicago 

Dedicated to April 21 191 Q 

The Victory Liberty Loan 



27 



THE ENGINEER 

In this age of transition a giant appears 

An old force that's grown mighty, the World's Engineers. 

Upon them falls the work that advances mankind 

And their duty, our comfort and safety to find. 

Throughout the Earth's progress, through all the years gone 

Tis the Engineer's torch gave the light that led on. 

When nations reached out to new shores all unknown 
When they cut through the Tropics or sought Arctic Zone, 
When they crossed o'er the desert or circled the Horn, 
Through all dangers and sorrows, in sunshine and storm 
In the battle with Nature's wild moods everywhere 
'Twas the Engineer's standard they found flying there. 

When the war clouds low-hung at last broke o'er the world 
And the legions of death their black war flags unfurled 
'Twas the Engineers' Corps that was first in the field, 
And the Engineers first forced invader to yield ; 
Where are bold enough fighters who'd claim to be peers 
Of the bridge-building brigade, our own Engineers. 

And then back of the lines, all those others that fought, 
Silent groping to find the great help the world sought ; 
They released hidden force, gave command of the air, 
And they conquered the brute in his submarine lair; 
Every gun they kept hot, while our Allies they fed, 
And across fearsome seas safe our armies they sped. 

And so all that we have and so all that we hold 

And most all the world's story which we must leave untold 

Our contentment in peace, our protection from strife, 

Our best hopes for the future of civilized life, 

Our true glories, our triumphs, our wealth, all that cheers, 

Are the debts that we owe to the World's Engineers. 



Dedicated to the 

Western Society of Engineers Fiftieth Chicago 

Anniversary Membership October 8 
Campaign 1919 



28 



LO! I AM TRUTH 

Lo ! I am Truth — you know me not, 
By my own will you were begot, 
And from my own your soul is cast; 
All that you have from my hands passed ; 
Beware how you that gift employ, 
For what Truth made she can destroy. 

I reign o'er all, Earth, Church and State; 
Not creeds or tenets rule your fate; 
Your struggles, terrors, hates and fears, 
Avail you naught, nor prayers, nor tears; 
I, Truth alone, forget it not, 
Have power to save what I begot. 

Aye then, rage not o'er wounded pride; 
Nor, vengeful, Mercy thrust aside; 
If wrongs you meet by other wrongs, 
Or Faith you crush by lash and thongs, 
Beware, lest Truth condone it not, 
Lest Truth undo what she begot. 

Should egotism grasp the reigns, 
And drive the right from human brains; 
Should cold ambition take command 
And you who rule dare stake you land ; 
Beware, that you forget me not, 
Truth can blot out what she begot. 

When rights of others you abuse, 
When Leaders honor path refuse, 
When Labor seeks to cloud its way, 
And slighting work, force treble pay; 
Beware, lest truth forgive it not, 
Lest Truth should crush what she begot. 

If class seeks vantage over class, 
While thousands suffer till feuds pass; 
And strikes become like bandits' deed 
The vicious blow of brigand creed ; 
Beware, that you forget it not, 
That Truth may break what she begot. 



29 



Do Wealth or Power fail to give, 
To those they rule fair right to live : 
When law and decency and right 
Are cast aside by brutal might ; 
Beware, beware, forget me not, 
For Truth may end what she begot. 

If mortals fail to make of Earth 
A home for all ; when greed takes birth, 
And men conceive the world their own 
And leave all else a prayer or groan ; 
Beware of Truth — forget her not 
Lest Truth cut down what she begot. 

So hark to Truth — forget her not 
In love and peace you were begot; 
So shall you live as God's like should 
By Golden Rule, for common good 
Else hear to Truth, live you shall not, 
Truth shall destroy what she begot. 



Chicago 

October 1 2. 

1919 



3d 



BIRTHDAY GREETINGS TO RICHARD 

Unto Richard, my Richard, keen, sturdy and neat 

From the top of his head to the soles of his feet, 

I indite these few lines to distinguish this day 

By a message of love which has this it would say : 

That today you are twelve and fast growing apace, 

While the World sits and waits, as she smiles in your face, 

Till you reach the proud hour when out rings the command, 

That assigns you your place in the ranks of the land. 

And hark, Richard, my Richard, to do your part well 

You'll remember, my boy, there's a magical spell 

In the smile that lies ready to flash from the eye, 

In a warm sunny heart, in the courage to try; 

Though the World may be harsh, be you helpful and kind, 

Be steadfast of soul and straightcut of mind; 

Let this be the sole goal for which ever you play 

And you always shall have — A very Happy Birthday. 

Affectionately Dedicated to 
Richard K. Strauss 
on the Occasion of His Twelfth Chicago . 

Birthday by his Daddy October 13, 1919 



31 



TORONTO 

Blow, let herald bugle blow, 
Loud and long for Toronto ; 
Let their swelling notes proclaim, 
Princess of the North Domain ! 
Glorious in her growing might, 
Splendid in her winning fight, 
For the wealth now at her feet; 
For her speeding merchant fleet ; 
For the workshops at her doors ; 
Smiling gardens on her shores; 
Hers a tale of great deeds done, 
Courage, progress, hard goals won: 
Magic City of the Don, 
Ever may thy light lead on ; 
And fore'er may bugles blow 
In thy name, Great Toronto! 



Dedicated to the 
City of Toronto 



Chicago 

December 

1919 



12 



A CHRISTMAS MESSAGE 

To thee this Christmas Day 

These greetings we submit; 
By we, I mean to say 

All three of us, to wit: 
The boys and I, whose wish 

To give a useful gift 
Took form in this, a dish ; 

Pray, as you guarded lift 
It from its Christmas case, 

We beg of you to see 
Within its shining face, 

This message meant for thee 

We love thee when you're cross 

We love thee when you're gay 
We love thee when storms toss 

Our little bark ; and yea, 
We love thee for that smile, 

Deep in thy blue-gray eye, 
We love thee all the while 

Thy voice breaks in a sigh. 
So let this trifle be 

What we have said above 
Upon the Christmas tree, 

A token of our love. 

Dedicated to Mother by _. . 

Daddy. Ralph and Ch icago 

Richard December 25, 1919 



33 



IN MEMORIAM 

I am Memorial of their name, 

That sleep on fields of deathless fame ; 

The rounded pillar of my form 

Will stand through time and stand through storm, 

A beacon shaft of gleaming white ; 

Lift high its head into the light, 

And through the ages and fore'er, 

To those that died, mute tribute bear. 



Chicago 
May 31, 1^20 

Dedicated to the 

First Division Memorial 

to be Erected in Arlington Cemetery 

Washington, D. C. 



34 



CALIFORNIA 

California, land of wonders; 
Land where the Pacific thunders, 
Where white Shasta seeks the skies, 
Home of mighty Thamalpais ; 
Land of fabled treasure-trove, 
Fragrant sunkist orange grove; 
Giant sequoias' lifted heads, 
Miles of golden poppy-beds; 
Land of the Yosemite, 
Cuirassed palm and olive tree; 
Land where summer zephyrs blow, 
'Neath the winter peaks of snow; 
Land of orange-blossom scent, 
Garden of the Continent; 
There, where the Pacific thunders, 
California, land of wonders. 



Los Angeles 
April 15, 1920 



35 



THE ISSUES 

The issues, aye, what may they be 1 

Come, citizens, your answer give; 
What may they be for you and me, 

And this great realm wherein we live? 

Shall old ideals be cast aside, 

And all the future left a prey, 
To rule conceived in headstrong pride, 

That adds new burdens day by day? 

Shall those who bred the profiteer, 

In capital and labor clan, 
Continue in their mad career, 

While spread the wrongs that they began? 

Shall egotists with iron will, 

And zealots drunk with State control, 

Dictate the sphere all else shall fill 

And make their wish the Nation's goal ? 

How long shall thrive the clash of class, 

And waste and brazen boast and dream? 

How long before false Gods shall pass 
And honor code restored, redeem 1 

Have we shirked aught that helped mankind ? 

Our aid the whole world still commands, 
But who would dare forever bind, 

His country's flag to foreign lands ? 

These are the issues, mark them well, 
All ye who love your Country best; 

Shall Democrat in power dwell, 
And Nation ever be oppressed, 

With systemless and hopeless reign, 

That year by year has bolder grown ? 

Or shall our foothold we regain, 

And soulless partisans dethrone^ 

Dedicated to the Republican Party Chicago 

Campaign of 1920 June, 1920 

36 



REPUBLIC AND REPUBLICAN 

Republic and Republican, 

Shall they together lead? 
Our Country and Our Countryman, 

Is their cause ours to plead? 

One hundred million thunder, yes, 
And pledge their hearts, their all, 

To end a Nation's great distress 
And peace and calm recall. 

In swelling ranks the Legions wait; 

Their leader sits his steed ; 
His Reveille, the call of Fate, 

His spur, the Nation's need. 

v A Leader come as Lincoln came, 
With chivalry of soul, 
To heal and bind the scars of flame, 
To make us strong and whole. 

His task to clear the festering nests 

Where madmen undermine, 
Replace the soul in human breasts, 

Permit the light to shine. 

The race for greed he shall destroy, 

Install a saner school 
That teaches simpler, cleaner joy, 

And honors Golden Rule 

Invincible, this savior host, 

Resistless in its might; 
In gathered clans from coast to coast, 

Behold the League of Right. 

And so while world props bend and sway, 

The silent squadrons form, 
To guard the birth of that new day, 

When pass our stress and storm. 

Mass then thy hosts, Republican; 

Await the tense command ; 
Strike swift and hard, American, 

Strike and redeem the land. 

Dedicated to the Republican Party Chic f§9n 

Campaign of 1920 June, 1920 

37 



WELCOME TO THE PORT CONVENTION 

Ports of the Lakes and Coast 
Chicago as your host 

Extends her welcome; 
Our pulsing, throbbing life, 
Our splendor born of strife, 

Await your coming. 

Her^ have we gathered stores 
From hundred distant shores 

To spread before you ; 
Here 'neath our sunlit skies 
Would we form mighty ties 

To speed Earth's fullness. 

Bide then our sister ports 
Within our wide-flung courts 

That speak their greeting ; 
Here, where the East meets West, 
Here we would bid you rest 

In Autumn glory. 



Dedicated to Chicago 

The Convention of the American . September 30, 1920 

Association of Port Authorities 



5b 



HARDING, OUR NEW CHIEF 

From million throats a welcome rings, 
As flashing wire glad tiding brings, 

Of Harding, our new Chief; 
He lovingly shall lead us now 
Back to the desk, the shop, the plow, 

To Peace and world relief. 

Aye, our own heart beats in his breast, 
He stands for that which we love best, 

For all that we hold dear; 
America, thou shalt endure, 
Thy heritage is made secure, 

Thy way is straight and clear ! 

Let flags unfurl and cannon boom 
And glad bells ring; gone is the gloom 

That hid the radiant sun ; 
The Nation's hosts have chosen well, 
Rejoicing in the land doth dwell, 

Our new day is begun. 



Written Election Eve 
November 2, 1920 
Chicago 



39 



GRAND CANYON 

As I stand at thy brink, Grand Canyon, 

And all thy beauty feel, 
As I gaze in thy age-old caverns 

And sense what they reveal ; 
As I rest 'neath thy mighty ramparts, 

That seem like temple walls, 
And seek where, in thy terraced gorges, 

The Colorado crawls ; 

Then I still seem to see the Titans, 

That in the long ago 
Playful fashioned thy heights and chasms 

And bid thy glory grow ; 
And I still seem to hear the tumult 

That marked thy years of birth, 
When they graved on thy rocks forever 

The history of the Earth. 

Oh, majestic in truth Niagara 

And masterful her roar; 
And as splendid the ocean's battling 

Along the crouching shore; 
And the beautiful coral islet, 

Surf-circled, palmed and green, 
And the white-mantled peak that towers 

O'er verdant vales between. 

Nor forget I the Mississippi 

Nor wondrous Yellowstone, 
Nor the fjords of the mystical Northland, 

With grandeur all their own ; 
But the marvels of all together 

Are commonplace to me, 
When I stand at thy brink, Grand Canyon, 

And dream thy dreams with thee. 

For thine is the Kingdom of Silence, 

Thy splendor is divine, 
And thy glory and thrill are* sacred, 

God's majesty is thine; 
In the shaft of the sunlight dancing, 

Upon thy sculptured walls, 
Is the spirit of the Almighty; 

He dwells within thy halls. 






Grand Canyon. Arizona 
March, 1919 



40 



THE BOY SCOUT'S CREED 

A Scout I am; this is my creed : 

For every day a worthy deed ; 

And this my faith : the love of right 

And truth and peace; the strength to fight 

For those in need ; the will to be 

My brother's prop; his trust in me 

To keep and mine in heart of man ; 

Than this there is no nobler plan. 

A Scout I am ; in every land 
Beneath the sun my colors stand 
For Honor's cause; my hands are bound 
With million hands the world around 
To service that bespeaks the strong, 
To do the things that conquer wrong, 
And did we search until Time's end, 
No braver task could Fortune send. 

A Scout I am ; and proud am I , 
As troop on troop goes marching by 
To march with them; to feel the thrill 
Of comradeship and stanch good will ; 
To know what message to the world 
We bring, where'er our flag's unfurled, 
To know that all the Earth throughout 
None rank superior to the Scout. 

Dedicated to the , ^ hi cago 

Boy Scouts Jan. IV, ivai 



41 




I WHISPER TO THE WORLD, GOOD-BYE 

Low burns the flame on sputt'ring wick, 
The road grows rough, the gloom is thick; 
Fast ebbs the strength of driving will, 
And hope and courage faster still ; 
The forward press of eager feet 
Transforms to slow and dull retreat; 
The happy call of daily task 
No longer thrills, nay, all I ask 
Is peace, oblivion and sleep; 
And so, as stealthy shadows creep 
Across the sunset evening sky, 
I whisper to the world, Good-bye. 

Now pass from me the surging throng, 
And die away their sobs and song ; 
Now fade the fruiting fields in flower, 
And all the glories of Earth's dower; 
Now vanish treasured hopes and dreams, 
My labored plans, my studied themes; 
I leave the waiting tasks undone, 
Ambitious efforts just begun; 
The gift of life, still sweet and fair 
And ties of love, all pass fore'er; 
And so, as night veils evening sky, 
I whisper to the world, Good-bye 



Chicago 

Novembei 

1920 



42 



fS 3537 



LIBRARY OF CONGRESS 




0000H4335EA « 



